Changes Approved to Consent-related Standards

The Board of Governors has approved a detailed set of recommendations from the Standards Committee that update all consent-related standards in AATB's Standards for Tissue Banking (Standards).

Changes were originally developed by a multi-organizational Consent/Authorization Task Force organized by the AATB and chaired by Christina W. Strong, Esq. These final recommendations are the product of the Task Force members who work at eye banks, organ procurement organizations, tissue banks, and non-anatomical donation organizations.

Valuable input was also provided by participants during the open consultation period when draft revisions were issued for public comment. The AATB Standards provide the most comprehensive guidance published anywhere for consent and authorization practices.

The following bullets generally describe the changes made, which create a baseline for behavior and documentation when obtaining informed consent or handling an authorization: